F1 Review: George Russell Tops Max Verstappen To Win in Canada; Lando Norris Tags Teammate and Wrecks

Pole-sitting George Russell controlled the race from start to finish, keeping Max Verstappen well beyond arm’s length, to easily win the Pirelli Canadian Grand Prix for the Mercedes driver’s first win of the season. After clashing two weeks ago in Spain, the pair never came close to contact, as Russell pulled away at the start and avoided letting Verstappen even approach striking distance. The race ended under a safety car as McLaren’s Lando Norris knocked himself out of the race late on a very ill-advised pass attempt on his teammate, Oscar Piastri.

"That made up for last year"

Converting pole position to the race win, George Russell is victorious in Montreal! 👏#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/T0iUlKpJym

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

“It’s amazing to be back on the top step,” Russell said. “Amazing day for the team. Thanks to everybody back at the factory who’s been working so hard to get us back fighting for victories. It feels good. We had high expectations coming into this weekend, and it worked out as we thought.”

Verstappen was second, and Russell was joined on the podium by Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who scored his first Formula 1 podium.

Piastri survived the contact with Norris to take fourth and pad his championship lead over his teammate. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth, respectively, although neither was bragging about it. 

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished seventh, his best result of the year and only the second points-scoring result for the two-time world champion. Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg was eighth, followed by Esteban Ocon in ninth in Haas’ 200th grand prix, with Williams Racing’s Carlos Sainz grabbing 10th.

In the driver standings, Piastri’s lead over Norris increased by 12 points, leading 198 to 176. Verstappen is third with 155 points.

Russell and Verstappen make up ground on Piastri and Norris in the drivers' standings 👀📊#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/KD8y5JbZUh

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

In the constructor standings, Mercedes chopped 28 points off McLaren’s lead and surpassed Ferrari for second, but McLaren still leads Mercedes comfortably, 374 to 199. Ferrari is third with 183 points.

The Race

In a tension-filled start, Russell easily held off Verstappen, who in turn defended the advances of Piastri. In his Piastri’s haste to attack Verstappen, Antonelli stole third from the Aussie. 

George Russell gets the launch he was hoping for 🚀

The lights go out in Canada! 💪#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/XlER3vHZOq

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

Verstappen remained right on Russell’s tail in the opening laps, intent on making the Mercedes driver stress his tires, which was a concern for Mercedes in the heat of the Montreal circuit. 

With most drivers in tire management mode, including Verstappen, who had backed off a bit in pursuit of Russell, there were few, if any, battles for position. Most drivers were reporting greater than expected degradation on both medium and hard tires, so upcoming pit stops and corresponding tire choice could decide the outcome of the race.

Verstappen was the first to pit, coming in on lap 13 for a set of hard tires. Russell followed suit a lap later in defense of the Verstappen undercut, with Russell also electing for a set of hard tires, as Antonelli assumed the lead.

LAP 14/70

Our race leader is in the pits for new tyres 🛞

Russell covers off the undercut threat from Verstappen's earlier stop ✋#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/jdMu6iaAEj

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

Norris and Leclerc, who both started on hard tires and had yet to pit, were running 1-2 on lap 20, with Russell in third and set to reclaim the lead when Norris and Leclerc pitted. Norris, who started seventh, was managing his tires well, but a one-stop strategy was unlikely, as he would not be able to go 40-plus laps on mediums after pitting. 

Lap 28 passed, and Norris and Leclerc were still out, while Verstappen was now trying to get by Leclerc, who was passed by Russell on lap 26. Leclerc finally pitted on lap 29 for another set of hard tires, a strategy which, surprise surprise, in true Ferrari fashion, Leclerc questioned.

Norris pitted on lap 30 for medium tires, and Russell was back up front, with Verstappen over two seconds back. Russell was in charge for now, and the battle likely would come down to which car would respond best to hard tires, the Mercedes or the Red Bull.

LAP 14/70

Our race leader is in the pits for new tyres 🛞

Russell covers off the undercut threat from Verstappen's earlier stop ✋#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/jdMu6iaAEj

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

Russell pitted from the lead on lap 44 and returned in fourth, nearly four seconds ahead of Verstappen. With Norris, Piastri, and Leclerc yet to make their second stops, Russell was set to take the lead when they did.

Once those three cars pitted (Leclerc was the last of the bunch to pit, on lap 53), Russell assumed the lead and with a comfortable 2.2-second lead over Verstappen, a win for the Mercedes was an almost certainty. Verstappen was not being seriously challenged for second by Antonelli, but Antonelli was under serious threat from Piastri, with Norris also lurking. 

If the order held, the outcome would be a boon to Mercedes in the constructors standings, especially with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton languishing in six and seventh, respectively. 

The battle for fourth between Piastri and Norris was, more importantly, a battle for championship points, with Norris looking to cut into Piastri’s 10-point lead. Norris made a move at the inside of the hairpin, and the two teammates went side-by-side coming out of it. Piastri came out on top, but Norris made a silly attempt to pass as the two dragged down the front straight. Norris went for a gap that wasn’t there, and his front wing touched Piastri’s rear tire, sending Norris into the wall. 

Into the wall and out of the race! 😱

Lando Norris apologised for this collision with his teammate Oscar Piastri #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/4FiNVm1hiI

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

Norris was out, and the safety car was deployed. Russell took the checkered flag under the safety car, followed by Verstappen and Antonelli. 

The Good

I think we can all say that Verstappen ran one of the cleanest races of his career and showed great sportsmanship in happily congratulating Russell when all was said and done. And I think we can all agree that Verstappen was miserable in doing so, although he hid it well. Christian Horner, on the other hand, is a different story.

It was an exciting race, or at least the final 10 laps were, when the top 5 cars were separated by less than four seconds. And the clash of McLarens only added to the drama. But what this race could have really used was just a few more seconds of race pace for Verstappen. The suspense would have been immense in the final laps if Verstappen had been close enough to Russell to challenge for the win. To watch Verstappen weigh the risk/reward scenarios in real time of stretching the rules to make a pass for the win, while gambling that he wouldn’t receive a penalty point on his superlicense, would have been fascinating. 

When Verstappen is on a “collision course,” whether that be with another driver, a potential race ban, or a testy interview with an F1 pundit, the state of F1 is better for it. And, to be fair, a “collision course” for Verstappen might be a literal class he has to take as a condition to continue racing if he accrues too many penalty points on his super license.

It's safe to say Max Verstappen wasn't thrilled with Ted Kravitz's line of questioning… #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/8CysUZexPt

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) June 13, 2025

In short, Verstappen’s personality may be direct, abrasive, and irritable, and at times vengeful, but at least it is a personality, one that F1 sorely needs. 

The Bad

What was Norris thinking when he made an absolutely foolish decision to try and pass Piastri, in the grass, no less, with three laps remaining? Yes, Norris was attempting to cut into Piastri’s lead in the drivers championship, but the ploy backfired, as did the synapses in Norris’ brain. 

It was a truly stupid move, and Norris admitted as much immediately after doing it. “I’m sorry,” Norris said. “All my bad. All my fault. Unlucky. Sorry. Stupid from me.” If it’s any consolation, Norris can easily say that he’s way better than Verstappen, at least at offering timely apologies.

Lando apologises to Oscar after their late-race collision 👊#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/sLq4EPC1u1

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025

It was a disastrous move for his championship hopes, and could easily have been also for Piastri’s. But somehow, luckily for Norris and McLaren, Piastri’s rear tire was not punctured by the contact.

Norris has a history of lapses in concentration, almost always at the starts of races. This one happened at the end of the race and was likely the worst decision of Norris’ F1 career. There are “brain farts;” this was “brain diarrhea.” Maybe this incident will be the catalyst that convinces Norris to fully devote himself to mental preparation. As the rapper Ice Cube said, “You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Because DNFs are bad for your drivers championship health.

Grid Walk Moments

Martin Brundle had a heck of a time finding a single person with just the least bit of a celebrity pedigree on the grid, and I had an equally difficult time in determining if there even was a “Grid Walk” moment. Brundle’s conclusion: there was not a celebrity to be found. My conclusion: there was no Grid Walk moment.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t make one up. How I wish that Brundle had snared an interview with Verstappen as the drivers headed to the front of the grid for the national anthem, creating a crowd of onlookers hoping to hear Verstappen’s response to what would clearly be a question about penalty points. And in a perfect world, Russell would have then started his trek to the grid. But lo and behold, there’s a logjam around Verstappen, and Russell can’t get through. In my mind, this is when Brundle would say, with a sly smile, “Max, can you let George through?”    

Oh, I forgot. You can’t make fun of Verstappen’s troubles without him getting butt hurt and saying the criticism is “childish?” So, you can’t talk about Verstappen “snapping” without him reacting by “snapping?”  

The Driver

George Russell was calm, cool, and collected in his win, but his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli won the “Driver Of The Day” award. While Russell was basically unchallenged, Antonelli had to work hard for his podium finish. First, at lights out, Antonelli made the move that basically earned him the podium, pressuring the McLaren from the start before completing the pass for third place into Turn 3. 

Antonelli essentially held this position (except for pit cycles) for the duration of the race, but to maintain his spot on the podium, he had to manage and defend against the challenges of both McLarens. Antonelli did so effectively, helped somewhat because the Piastri and Norris were battling each other, and helped a great deal when Norris forced contact with Piastri late in the race, effectively ending the McLaren challenge to Antonelli.

Antonelli clinched his first F1 podium, a result made even sweeter with his Mercedes teammate Russell occupying the top step.  

   
The Results (Pirelli Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve)

Jeffrey Boswell